Marcos party insists: Estate tax case still pending

MANILA, Philippines — The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) of presidential frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has insisted that the P23-billion estate tax case against his family remains pending.

George Briones, PFP general counsel, said that while the Supreme Court decision on the principal tax assessment of the government on the estate left by Marcos’ father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was already final, the actual amount to be paid remains subject to
 reconciliation.

He belied claims that the Marcoses are evading payment of P203 billion in estate tax to the government.“What’s final is the assessment of P23 billion. But when you look at the news, it seems that the P23 billion has ballooned to P203 billion. So, it increased by P180 billion. What I’m saying is, the P203 billion is not final because that is subject to reconciliation,” he said in a television interview.

Briones explained that the penalties and surcharges might still be reduced or waived, likening the case to borrowers who do not pay their loan payments or mortgages for their properties to commercial banks.

“The only thing the debtor pays is their interest because that is the cost of money,” he argued.

Marcos’ camp reiterated the same position last week that the estate tax issue has remained subject of a pending litigation and is being weaponized by other candidates to attack his lead in the campaign.

“Our rivals are misdirecting everyone by claiming that the case has attained finality when the truth of the matter is, it is still pending in court and the ownership of the properties in litigation has yet to be settled,” said his spokesman and chief-of-staff Vic Rodriguez.

He also belittled the issue, saying it is “all about politics.”

The camps of presidential candidates Vice President Leni Robredo and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno have been attacking Marcos over the estate tax issue.

Even President Duterte called on the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in a televised address earlier this week to collect estate taxes, although he did not specify the case of Marcos.

Former BIR commissioner Kim Henares explained in a radio interview that the matter of collecting taxes from the Marcos estate is complicated since the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is also involved.

Henares noted that the sequestered assets from the Marcos estate are not covered by estate tax since they belong to the government.

Somewhat confused

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos insisted yesterday that the Marcos family would not block any pending case against them or the efforts to collect the estate tax owed to the government – even if her brother wins the presidential race.

While admitting that she is not an authority on the estate tax collection case because their lawyers are the ones handling the case in the last 36 years, she noted that “many things (have) happened” since then and that the family was somewhat “confused” already.

“For me, after so many years, why did this come out only now? It’s really like maligning us due to rotten politics. They’re digging this (P203-billion estate tax) up – and truth to tell, has no effect because people are fed up by the repeated attacks against us. It’s not having an effect on us,” she told dzMM in Filipino.

“The cases will continue whoever wins. The cases will continue to be heard in the courts. That’s no problem. These will be not blocked by our family, ever,” the senator insisted.

Those opposed to Bongbong Marcos have claimed that his family’s refusal to pay the huge tax arrears only proves that he should not be voted into office.

Sen. Marcos noted that some of the assessed properties, which formed the basis of the computation of the excise tax, have been found to be owned by cronies while others have already been sold by the PCGG.

“So we’ve been asking how much really have been sold that will go against the tax payment? We’ve been asking the PCGG and BIR for decades. We’re confused and different agencies have different totals,” she said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the BIR is in the process of collecting the P203-billion estate tax from the Marcoses. – Paolo Romero